Monday, April 13, 2009

The night Max wore his wolf suitand made mischiefof one kindand anotherwas the nightyou phoned the policelike a bluffthat was called outin the loud fashionof a domestic dispute.You told her'I'll eat you up'and she couldn't stop yellingfading between pleasfor her sanity,how she was just one mom,she didn't know what to do with youand threatsfor your lifeI watched yousent awaywithout eating anything,and I didn't see youfor a week.And that very night,in our room,a forest grewand grewand grewbut you weren't thereso you couldn't see the vinesthat were chokingour windowpulling at the wall socketsyou couldn't hearthe wavescrashing throughour chain-link fenceand against the vinyl panelingwe had called home.I came back every day after schoolto stare out across that oceantumbling bythrough nightand dayand in and out of weeksand almost over a yearand I could have leftthere was a dockthere was your private boatthere were a lot of miles I could've putbetween me and her.but godammitI wanted someone holding it all together.And I sure hope they were greatas they roared their terrible roarsand gnashed their terrible teethand rolled their terrible eyesand showed their terrible claws for youI hope your wild thingsstroked your dirty, mattedego.I hope your weekas a ward of the stateleft you feeling justified.And I don't knowwhat elsewould've havechanged that situation,and I'm not calling youwrongbut I'm still calling youselfishand still wish you couldhave just eaten up yourpride along with thatridiculous suitand just smiled and nodded at herlike I could.When you came back,we had supper.But it was notstill hot.

In Explanation

"...And the pain, intolerable. Until one night, she [the princess who could not speak] went to the garden, and dug with her hands in the ground a small hole, and bending to the earth, screamed with all her heart. Screamed and screamed her pain into the hole until morning. And it was better."

This collection serves as a receptacle for overflow. These words, lacking a place of their own, flow here. It is my hope might that they might flourish here in the dark.